Romney says he won't deport immigrants with 2-year visas under Obama order

By Maggie Haberman

10/02/12 07:42 AM EDT

Ahead of tomorrow's debate, Mitt Romney gives a bit of clarity, via the Denver Post, about how he would handle President Obama's executive action on halting some deportations:

The people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased," Romney said. "Before those visas have expired we will have the full immigration reform plan that I've proposed. ...

...I actually will propose a piece of legislation which will reform our immigration system to improve legal immigration so people don't have to hire lawyers to figure out how to get here legally," Romney said. "The president promised in his first year, his highest priority, that he would reform immigration and he didn't. And I will.

It will make answering a likely question tomorrow easier for Romney, who has criticized what Obama did but has declined to say what he would do about the action if he wins. It also comes as polls show Obama's lead with Hispanic voters at a high.